Parallels
by ice illuser
Summary: Rukia could see more parallels than a few between herself and Orihime. They both had been captured, they both had come to rescue the other, and they were both in love with Ichigo.


Disclaimer: I have never owned Bleach, except in my dreams.

A/N: From the latest chapter of Bleach, 269 The End is Near, I was somehow inspired to write something Ichigo/Rukia. Don't ask why, even I don't know.

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_I can't die here. I won't die here. Not without anyone with me, I can't. I won't._

She knew she couldn't die alone, because that was what Kaien-dono had warned against, but getting stabbed through wasn't something she could easily recover from. She wasn't Ichigo after all, with his superhuman endurance and strength.

Ichigo. Kurosaki Ichigo. The brat that had kicked her the first time they met, in the opinion that she was a burglar. The boy who had been more or less forced to take her powers. The man that had saved her from execution.

What had it been that had even made her give up her powers to him? Even if she was injured, that Hollow had not been that powerful, and she could have defeated it. And yet…she had.

She would not deny that the fact that he had looked like Kaien-dono had influenced her decision. She would also not deny the fact that her time with Ichigo, even without her powers, had been the happiest ones she had ever had since the day Kaien-dono had been killed. But all good things must come to an end, as they did that day when nii-sama and Renji had come to retrieve her.

Although, she also knew that she could not whine. There had been many good things in her life, from meeting Renji and the others, to being adopted by Nii-sama, and being taken under Kaien-dono's wing. It was just that, there had either been down sides to those experiences, or they had ended too soon or too tragically.

But neither was she some princess locked away and waiting to be rescued from whatever had befallen her, for Ichigo was certainly no prince. She really had resigned herself to be executed that day, and no one could have been as surprised as her when Ichigo had blocked the Soukyoko from killing her. Being saved had been an almost unwanted experience for her, as she had already made peace with herself.

And now there was Orihime, who it seemed had switched positions with her. This time it was her trying to get Orihime out, instead of the other way around. This time around, it was Orihime, the princess, locked away in a cold white tower. Orihime who also…

She knew, after all, she wasn't a fool. There was adoration in Orihime's eyes every time she looked at Ichigo and pain whenever he didn't notice, and instead stared at her. She supposed she should say something, do something…but in the end, what was there to say or to do? She had tried fighting with Orihime to train her, which she knew had helped, but other than that, she was very unsure of what to do. Although, she was sure (well, sort of…) that one day Ishida would say something to her. That was an obvious relationship as well.

And now she was captured. But it was still different from her own situation, in that while she had been resigned to being executed by the people that she had known and was a part of, Orihime would actually have to serve the traitor Aizen. And Orihime had always been more cheerful, more innocent than she had ever been, so much easier to break…

But she couldn't think that way. Ichigo had always managed to beat the odds before, so why would this time be any different? After all, she had never imagined that he could have beat Renji, let alone Zaraki-taichou and nii-sama.

Just like she could never have imagined that she would ever fall so hard for a brash human boy with the tiniest bit of a hero's complex (how he would protest if she ever said that out loud). There, she had admitted it, if only just in her own private mind. It had never been intentional, and yet, neither had it been unexpected after awhile. It had just sort of… happened. (And yes, she knew how very cliché that sounded.)

And so, so many years after Kaien-dono's death at her hands, here she was, after being rescued by a boy who held an uncanny resemblance to Kaien-dono (except with orange hair), fighting the Espada who had caused Kaien-dono's death, and attempting to rescue the girl who also loved the boy who resembled Kaien-dono so much.

And so, she couldn't die here, all alone, completely against what Kaien-dono had told her.

_Keep walking, don't think about it…don't die—_

_Darkness. _

_But hope also lies ahead._

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A/N: Okay that was kind of…mmph, strange. I'm not even sure if I like it…but anyway please review to tell me what you think! And I was thinking about rewriting the last line into "But hope also lies ahead in the form of an orange head," but it sounded too strange…


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